APOD: 2007 October 1- The Small Cloud of Magellan . ... The Small Magellanic Cloud pictured above actually spans 15,000 light-years or so and contains several hundred million stars. About 210,000 light-years distant in the constellation Tucana , it is the fourth closest of the Milky Way's known satellite galaxies, after the Canis Major and Sagittarius Dwarf galaxies and the Large Magellanic Cloud . ... NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers . NASA Official: Jay Norris. ...